MTA - Unit 1- Coordination of Housekeeping Department with Other Department

COORDINATION OF HOUSEKEEPING WITH

OTHER DEPARTMENTS

HOUSEKEEPING COORDINATION

No individual department in any hotel can

work in isolation.

A willingness to cooperate and coordinate,

with the assistance of efficient methods of

communication, is essential if the

establishment is to run smoothly.


The housekeeping department is just one of the departments in a hotel working towards the satisfaction of the guests, and each department is dependent on others for information and/or services if its work is to be accomplished efficiently.

Frictions between departments must be kept to a minimum and there should be close inter-departmental liaison.


All departments depicted in the above picture

need to co ordinate with housekeeping, and vice

versa.

Within the rooms division, housekeeping

primarily coordinates with the front office and

maintenance.

Amongst all coordination relationships in hotels,

the most important one is that between the front

office, housekeeping, and maintenance (see

Figure ).


Hotels depend on this triangle to create a

perfect image.

The ultimate aim of this trio is to provide the

guests with a comfortable room and a

friendly yet courteous service.

This must be provided economically and

efficiently because a room that is not sold for

a day is loss of revenue that cannot be

retrieved.

COORDINATION WITH FRONT OFFICE

Rooms are of chief concern to the front office and housekeeping departments.

It is important for the departments to continuously exchange information on room status.

The front office must provide lists for expected arrivals and departures for the day in advance, and notify housekeeping of actual arrivals and departures as and when they occur.


The front office is not allowed to assign

guestrooms until the rooms have been

cleaned, inspected, and released by the

housekeeping department.

Each night, a front office assistant produces

an 'occupancy report', also called the 'night

report'.


This report lists rooms occupied that night

and indicates guests who are expected to

check out the following day.

The executive housekeeper procures and

consults this list early the next morning and

schedules the occupied rooms for cleaning.


As guests check out, the front office notifies housekeeping.

Housekeeping ensures that these rooms are given top priority in servicing, so that clean rooms are available for sale.

If a guest checks out before the stated departure date, the front office must inform housekeeping that the room is no longer a stayover, but is now a check-out.


To ensure efficient rooming of guests, both

housekeeping and the front office must

inform each other of changes in a room's

status.

Knowing whether a room is occupied,

vacant, on change, out of order (000), under

repair, or similar, is important for proper

rooms

management.


A flow of information in the reverse direction is also necessary, especially by way of the 'room status report' or the 'housekeeping status report'.

At the end of a shift, the housekeeping department prepares the housekeeping status report, which indicates the physical count as seen by housekeeping, which is to be tallied by the reception board.


This report indicates the current housekeeping status of each room.

The front office must be informed about rooms that are ready for occupation and those which are out of order or under repair.

The room status report is compared with the front office's occupancy report, and discrepancies are brought to the attention of the front office manager.


A room status discrepancy is a situation in which the housekeeping department's description of a room's status differs from the room status information being used by the front office to assign guestrooms.

As unoccupied rooms are cleaned and inspected, the floor supervisors call the housekeeping desk attendant, who in turn informs the front office of rooms ready.


The front office then updates the room's

status to 'vacant and ready'.

Promptly informing the front office of the

housekeeping status of rooms is a

tremendous aid in getting guests who arrive

early registered, especially during high-

occupancy or sold-out periods.


Keeping room status information up-to-date

requires close coordination between-the front

desk and housekeeping.

The two common systems used for tracking

current room status are the manual Whitney

room-rack systems and the computerized

room status systems.


The front desk may use a Whitney room rack

to track the status of rooms.

In this system, a room-rack slip containing

the guest's name and other relevant

information is prepared during the

registration process.

This slip is placed in the room- rack slot

corresponding to the assigned room number.


The presence of a room-rack slip in the slot indicates that the room is occupied.

When the guest checks out, the rack slip is removed and the room's status now indicates 'on change', which means the room is in need of housekeeping services before it can be registered to an arriving guest.

Housekeeping meanwhile attends to the unoccupied room and notifies the front desk, which updates the status to 'vacant and ready'.


In a computerized room status system, as soon as a guest checks out, the front desk enters the departure into the computer.

This information is received by housekeeping via the computer terminal located in the housekeeping department.

When housekeeping is done with the cleaning and inspection of the room, it enters this information into its departmental terminal.


This information is received on the front

office computer terminal and it puts the room

on sale.

This system works best when the computer

system is directly connected to the

guestroom telephone system.


With such a network, supervisors can inspect rooms cleaned by attendants and, if they are found ready for occupancy, enter a code on the guestroom telephone to change the room status to 'cleaned and ready' in the hotel's computer system.

Within seconds, the updated room status is displayed on the screen of a front desk computer terminal.


Sharing information on occupancy levels

helps forecast occupancy for the year and

makes it easier to draw up a budget,

establish par stock levels, and estimate

required staff strength.

It also helps to gear renovations and spring

cleaning to low-occupancy periods, thereby

preventing loss of revenue.


The housekeeping department also receives

other important information from the front

office, which require special attention:

VIPs in the house This information is

essential so that the staff can take a little

extra care and keener precautions in

cleaning and supervising VIP rooms.


Groups in the house

The group rooming list must be provided

before the group's arrival as groups tend to

move together in terms of arrival, departure,

sightseeing tours, and meals.

Their rooms need to be readied together in

view of strict time parameters.


Groups in the house

It is also important to intimate room changes, so that items left behind by guests may be handed over, 'extras' retrieved, and laundry delivered.

Group rooming lists enable the department to organize their work and have the group's rooms ready on time.

This is particularly crucial when the turnover is high and rooms are experiencing back-to-back occupancy.


Crew in the house

Under normal circumstances, airline crews

are allotted a given set of rooms on a

particular floor.

However, sometimes, the arrival of a crew

and the departure of another crew from the

same airline may overlap.


Crew in the house

In such circumstances, it is important for the allotted rooms to be cleaned within a short period of time.

Also, because of odd timings for international flights, these crew rooms may display a 'do not disturb' (DND) card at times when other guests are normally out, which the housekeeping schedule must take into account.


Flowers

Sometimes the management extends its

compliments to a guest with a special

gesture of a flower arrangement in the room

as recognition of the importance of a person.


Flowers

This requirement of flower arrangements for

certain guests is conveyed to housekeeping

by the front office on a daily basis.

Apart from the communications mentioned,

the front office needs to depend on

housekeeping for the provision of clean

uniforms to its staff.

COORDINATION WITH MAINTENANCE

DEPARTMENT

The maintenance departrnent is responsible

for the provision of engineering facilities

that contribute to the comfort of guests and

increase the efficiency of staff.

The housekeeping department depends on

maintenance to keep things in order.


DEPARTMENT

While carrying out their scheduled work,

housekeeping employees may find some

deficiencies in the hotel facilities, such as

faulty electrical plugs, dripping faucets,

leaking pipes, or malfunctioning air-

conditioning units or we cisterns.


DEPARTMENT

The housekeeping department often takes

the first steps in maintenance functions for

which the maintenance department is

ultimately responsible.

However, these deficiencies and faults

should be immediately reported to

maintenance


DEPARTMENT

A need for urgent repairs is reported to

maintenance over telephone and these

requests are usually dealt with promptly if the

rapport between the two departments is

good.


DEPARTMENT

There are various heads under which maintenance work is done:

Electrical work Air conditioning and heating; fused bulbs; lights and lamps that are not functioning; defective plugs and plug points; short circuits; and faulty geysers, refrigerators, and mini bars fall under this category.

Boiler work This is necessary to maintain a supply of hot water to guestrooms. Mechanical work This entails repair or replacement of any faulty equipment, such as vacuum cleaners, ice-cube machines, and so on.


DEPARTMENT

Plumbing work This deals with faulty faucets, showers, drainage systems, water closets, and so on.

Civil work Any masonry work comes under this head.

Carpentry work Broken or shaky furniture, mirrors and cupboards in less than peak condition, and fresh woodwork are all part of this.

To look at it another way, in terms of frequency, urgency, and complexity of the job, there are three levels of maintenance work.


DEPARTMENT

Routine maintenance :

This involves maintenance activities that

relate to the general upkeep of the hotel.

They occur on a regular basis, daily or

weekly, and require minimal training or skills.

These activities do not call for the making out

of a formal work order, and no records are

maintained for them.


DEPARTMENT

Routine maintenance :

Most of these routine maintenance activities are

carried out by housekeeping.

Proper care of many surfaces and materials by

housekeeping personnel is the first step in the

overall maintenance programme for the

property.

Examples of such activities are the

replacement of fused light bulbs, polishing of

furniture, cleaning of windows and floors, and so

on.


DEPARTMENT

Preventive maintenance

This is a systematic approach to maintenance in which situations are identified and corrected on a regular basis to control costs and keep larger problems from occurring. It involves inspections, minor corrections, and initiation of work orders.

Inspections During the normal course of their duties, housekeeping personnel carry out inspections of most areas. Room attendants and supervisors regularly check for leaking faucets, chipped caulking around bathroom fixtures, fused bulbs, AC malfunctions, and so on.


DEPARTMENT

Preventive maintenance

Minor corrections Problems of a greater magnitude are avoided if minor repairs are attended to promptly. If communication between housekeeping and maintenance is efficient, minor repairs will be rectified by the maintenance department even as the room attendant is cleaning the guestroom.

Initiation of work orders Preventive maintenance sometimes identifies problems that are beyond the limited scope of minor corrections. The necessary work is then referred to the maintenance department through a formal work-order system. The chief maintenance officer or the chief engineer then schedules this maintenance work to be done.


DEPARTMENT

Scheduled maintenance

This involves maintenance work initiated by a

work order.

Work orders are key elements in the

communication and coordination between

housekeeping and maintenance.

The procedure for scheduled maintenance is

described in this section.


DEPARTMENT


The moment a housekeeping personnel

detects a problem that requires attention

from maintenance, she calls the

housekeeping control desk, stating the

nature of the problem, the kind of assistance

required, and the location where it is

required.


DEPARTMENT


The control desk fills out a work order form (see Exhibit ) in triplicate, each copy being of a different colour.

One copy is sent to the executive housekeeper and two copies to maintenance.

The chief engineer keeps one of these copies and gives the other to the tradesperson assigned to do the repair.


DEPARTMENT


When the job is completed, a copy of the tradesperson's completed work order is sent to the executive housekeeper for acknowledgement of work satisfactorily completed.

If this copy is not sent to the executive housekeeper within an appropriate period of time, housekeeping issues another work order, which signals maintenance to provide a status report on the requested repair.

SAMPLE WORK ORDER FORM

Hotel XYZ

MAINTENANCE WORK ORDER FORM

Time……….Date…………… Check (X) indicates unsatisfactory condition

By……………………………. Explain Check in remarks section.

Location……………………... Bedroom

Problem……………………… ( ) Walls ( ) Woodwork ( ) Doors

………………………………. ( ) Ceiling ( ) Television ( ) Light

………………………………. ( ) Floors ( ) AC unit ( ) Blinds

………………………………. ( ) Windows ( ) Drapes

Assigned to………………….. Remarks ………………………………………………

Date Compl………………….. ………………………………………………………...

Time spent…………………… Bathroom

Completed by………………... ( ) Faucets ( )Drains ( ) Shower

Remarks……………………… ( ) Lights ( ) Wallpapers ( ) Paints

………………………………... ( ) Tiles ( ) Glass ( ) Door

………………………………… ( ) Accessories ( ) Window

………………………………… Remarks ………………………………………………….


DEPARTMENT

Nowadays, many hotels install a

computerized maintenance management

system (CMMS) to catapult them from the

strategy colloquially called 'bust n' fix' to one

of proactive maintenance.

Engineering and maintenance departments

in most hotels keep records of all equipment

operated by housekeeping personnel.


DEPARTMENT

Equipment data cards contain basic

information about these pieces of equipment.

The purpose is to provide documentation of

all maintenance activity on a given piece of

equipment.


DEPARTMENT

On the part of the housekeeping department,

its personnel should cooperate with

maintenance by getting room doors unlocked

promptly when repairs are being done.

Housekeeping should also have

maintenance rooms already stripped when

redecoration

is to take place and should have furniture to

be removed for repair appropriately labeled.

COORDINATION WITH SECURITY DEPARTMENT

The coordination here is mainly concerned

with the prevention of fire and thefts and

the safekeeping of keys and lost property.

There are so many security hazards on the

floors that this liaison is particularly

important, and the housekeeper cooperates

by endeavoring to see that housekeeping

staff are aware of the hazards.


Housekeeping personnel should also report anything of a suspicious nature immediately to the security staff.

A hotel guestroom should be the most private of places and the hotel staff must ensure their guests' privacy and security.

However, a guest may take advantage of this privacy and may be engaged in certain illegal activities such as gambling, smuggling, and so on.


Housekeeping personnel have to be alert to

this risk and seek the security department's

intervention if necessary.

The security department is responsible for

conducting training sessions on handling

emergency situations for the staff.

For example, they conduct fire drills to train

staff to gear up in a fire emergency.

COORDINATION WITH FOOD AND BEVERAGE

DEPARTMENT

The food and beverage (F&B) department consists of both the service staff as well as the kitchen staff.

The coordination of housekeeping with the restaurants and banquet halls is mainly concerned with the provision oflinen and uniforms.

The linen room supervisor, under the supervision of the executive housekeeper, needs to have sufficient stock of clean napery to meet the demands of the F&B department's restaurant and banquet functions.


DEPARTMENT

On his/her part, the restaurant manager should ensure that the time set for the exchange of linen is respected; that linen is not lost or misused; and that intimation of forthcoming banquet functions is conveyed to housekeeping well in advance.

Besides extra/special linen, housekeeping may also have to arrange for flower decorations for banquets.


DEPARTMENT

Coordination between the two departments becomes particularly necessary in the case of room service, so that friction does not arise over matters such as waiters not collecting trays from guestrooms or room service staff leaving soiled trays in the corridors or causing extra work through careless spills on the carpet.

In many hotels, housekeeping also looks after pest control in restaurants, kitchens, and stores attached to them.


DEPARTMENT

Special cleaning of these areas calls for coordination with the housekeeping department.

Both restaurant and kitchen staff require clean uniform on a daily basis, for which too they need to communicate with housekeeping.

Provision of staff meals for housekeeping personnel, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the kitchen staff.

COORDINATION WITH STORES

Coordination with stores ensures the

availability of day-to-day necessities of

house-

keeping.

Larger hotels have a store attached to the

housekeeping department that stocks

linen, 'supplies, and so on.


Smaller hotels may stock them in the general

store, except

for linen, which is sent to the housekeeping

department on purchase. Communication

with stores is by way of a requisition form,

which housekeeping sends to stores when it

requires certain items. The format shown in

Exhibit on the next page may be used.


COORDINATION WITH PERSONNEL

DEPARTMENT

Housekeeping coordinates with the personnel department for recruitment of house-keeping staff; managing their salaries and wages; addressing indiscipline; followingthrough grievance procedures; issuing identity cards for employees; running inductionprogrammes; maintaining locker facilities; completing income tax formalities; effectingtransfers, promotions, appraisals, and exit formalities; procuring trainees; and organizing training sessions.

COORDINATION WITH PURCHASE DEPARTMENT

The purchase department procures out-of-

stock items for housekeeping, such as guest

supplies and amenities, stationery, linen,

cleaning materials and equipment, and so

on.

Housekeeping should convey their

requirements to purchase by way of advance

notice

in the form of a purchase requisition (Exhibit

).

COORDINATION WITH PURCHASE DEPARTMENT

COORDINATION WITH SALES AND MARKETING

The sales and marketing department informs

housekeeping of the occupancy forecast for

the entire year, which is broken up month-

wise.

This enables housekeeping to budget for the

necessary expenses.


An important contribution of the

housekeeping staff to hotel sales is ensuring

that repeat business is obtained by providing

the level of cleanliness and service that

meets or exceeds guest expectations


The sales and marketing team also have to depend on housekeeping for their uniforms.

Two things are certain in the hotel business: no matter how many guests a salesperson brings in the door, if housekeeping does not execute its function with excellence, the guests will not be coming back.

Vice versa, no matter how well-kept the rooms, if the sales staff do not bring potential guests to the hotel, occupancy falls.

Travel

MTA - Unit 1- Coordination of Housekeeping Department with Other Department